Cherished Princess

Chapter 3 - Yin & Yang

We departed from the Hidden Leaf Village after spending the night in a hotel. I don't want to go home. What will we say to Grandma? That we went for nothing? Despite our shame, we left because there was no point in staying. We only went there to convince our parents that we were their children. They, however, did not believe us. For the time being, my sister had given up on persuading our parents. And so had I.

The shortest way to the outskirts ran from the Konoha forest and led to the cave we were found in, which is the path we took when we came. Grandma suggested we take this route because she had already visited Konoha.

We were halfway into the forest when I heard Inoara shout my name. "Tsuki!" She yelled, racing up to me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I wonder why our mother didn't believe us. How could she forget her own children?" She bemoaned.

"It was Momoshiki Otsutsuki," I stated unequivocally.

"What?"

"He used a chemical to wipe out her memory and the memories of everyone present when she gave birth. While our father wasn't even in the village."

"How did you find out? Did you come across any files containing our information?"

"No. Well... it's complicated."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" She inquired.

"You know, I didn't want to look through my thoughts. It tells me too much, and a lot of it is forbidden knowledge. I only used it after our mother told us there was no documentation of our birth because I needed to know why there was no info on us. And if I tried to figure it out without using my all-knowing intellect, I wouldn't get an answer."

"But who's Momoshiki?" She said, nodding. I always knew that my sister was smarter than everyone else, but to think she was this knowledgeable. She had some knowledge of the distant past, like how all the Shinobi villages came together to end the Fourth Great Ninja War. She used to allow herself to know about events in the past and certain things in the present, but never about the future. Occasionally, she finds herself recognizing something she isn't meant to know. Therefore, she now restricts her powers from knowing the past, present, and future. She's the most powerful person I know, yet in all the years we've lived on the outskirts, she has never had to utilize any of her powers.

"He's the one who abducted us."

"Why did he capture us anyway? I mean, I get why he would capture you," she replied. No offense. "But... why would he kidnap me?"

"He planned to harness our chakra to achieve god-like abilities, but he didn't anticipate that our mother would have two children; he thought she'd only have one," I explained. That's a naive assumption. "He eventually kidnapped both of us and carried us to a cave, but my chakra repelled him, so he gave up and fled."

Her eyes widened, "You were that powerful from the moment you were born?"

"Apparently."

"But what chemical did he use to erase everyone's memory?"

"It's known as the memory-erasing substance. It was a gas created by Katasuke, a scientist who resides in the Hidden Leaf Village." I realized we were heading the opposite way, back where we came from. "Didn't we just pass by here?" This is the same small pond I saw last time.

"Ugh, we went the wrong way," she grumbled. I think I got sidetracked listening to Tsuki. She narrowed her eyes, "Or this might be a genjutsu."

"This doesn't seem like an illusion," I replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed. "We should get going. We need to cover three-fourths of the distance before dawn."

"Wait," I stopped her. "There's something there." A small house, cloaked by chakra, stood partially concealed among the shrubs. I couldn't see it, but I could sense its presence. Someone was inside. I fought the temptation to let myself know who was in there through my thoughts since they might tell me everything.

Sukate sat on his bed and leaned against the wall. He was aware that two people discovered his location. He wasn't trying to hide, and he wasn't a threat, so no one cared about him, at least until today. Moments later, a slew of unfamiliar recollections flooded into his mind. Where are they coming from? It was all about a girl he'd never seen before. There were glimpses of him and her as babies.

Most people have no recollection of their birth, but he could remember how powerful he was at the time. He had a limitless supply of chakra and all the Jutsu he could ever think of. If he had that power now, he would never have needed to practice or train to achieve his current level of strength. Unfortunately, he was quite young and didn't give any thought to his abilities. On top of that, his powers inexplicably vanished when he was a year old, so he never got the chance to use them.

"You were meant to have half of all the abilities in the universe, while she would have the other half," a voice in his brain stated. "You may have possessed all of them before, but they were meant to be split when she was born. However, something went wrong, and she inherited all of your abilities while you lost all of yours."

"Who was that? Was that all just in my head?" Sukate questioned himself.

Inoara and I crept closer to the house as I prepared to activate my Sharingan. It was baffling, but I'd never used any of my powers in battle, which meant I hadn't used the Sharingan either. This was my first time. Of course, it's not shocking that I knew precisely what to do with it, as I have with so many other skills I've locked away within me.

"Don't..." Inoara murmured, blocking my path. "I'll activate it."

The front door sprang open, showing a pair of brilliant crimson eyes surrounded by darkness. It wasn't just ordinary red eyes; it was the Sharingan. A young boy, roughly my age, walked out. There was no doubt about it, he was from the Uchiha clan.

"So... you're the one who stole my powers?" he hissed, his voice venomous. She's the girl who appeared in my memories. I can feel the power I once had within her. If I only had that right now... I could...

I scoffed, "I didn't take anything of yours, in fact, I don't even know who you are."

"You have no idea who I am, that's a load of nonsense," he snarled. "You could if you wanted to, you're just suppressing it."

My sister attempted to strike him, but he dodged it and activated the Mangekyo Sharingan. I stood there watching as my sister became completely paralyzed under his influence. "Let her go!" I screamed.

"Looks like you rely on her to fight for you," he chuckled, giving me a mocking glance. "I bet you haven't used any of your abilities even once."

"They're too strong to keep wasting like that."

"Thought so." Pathetic. Unlike me, she had plenty of time.

"If you really want me to fight you, I'll do it."

A faint smile crept over his lips as he released control of Inoara, causing her to stumble to the ground. What is his objective? I was ready to unleash my full power when I felt every ounce of it vanish from my body. He narrowed his eyes, as his face shifted into a frown.

"What's wrong?" He derisively asked.

"Huh? What happened?" I stammered. Did he... no... he couldn't have...

When he noticed me staring at him, he answered calmly, "I know what you're thinking, but I didn't do anything." The powerful energy I felt inside her only a minute ago has disappeared.

"Well, she never acts like that for no reason," Inoara pointed out.

"Did you steal my powers?" I inquired.

"No." I had no intention of doing that.

"Liar," my sister spat.

"Hold on a minute," I whispered as I silenced her. "What's your name?" I asked him.

"I should be asking you that."

"You..." Inoara growled.

"Fine, my name is Sukate Uchiha."